The maintenance, defence and
promotion of peace in the world are at the summit of the functions and
priorities of the United Nations. Through conviction and many years’ experience,
this Organization believes that peace is first and foremost a culture prior to
its being a network of peaceful relations among nations, anchored in the system
of rules and mechanisms of international law.

All through the years of the UN’s
activity, the Holy See has expressed confidence in this Institution as a
privileged forum where nations can work in concert for the promotion of peace,
and has offered its own contribution in reading the signs of the times,
deepening reflection, and above all in rallying entire communities in the world
to foster and maintain a culture of peace.

At the start of this year, Pope
Benedict XVI addressed all women and men of goodwill with a message entitled “In
Truth, Peace”.[1]
Reading the signs of our time in which terrorism, nihilism and fanatical
fundamentalism threaten peaceful coexistence, the Pope underlined the
inseparable bond between peace and truth.

Peace implies a truth which is
common to all peoples beyond cultural, philosophical and religious diversities.
It is the idea of the dignity of every human person intimately linked to the
transcendent. Thus peace will be reached once it is understood and put into
practice as the realization of this shared truth, in mutual
respect of cultural diversities. “An extreme exaltation of differences clashes
with this fundamental truth. We need to regain an awareness that we share a
common destiny which is ultimately transcendent, so as to maximize our
historical and cultural differences, not in opposition to, but in cooperation
with, people belonging to other cultures” (n.6). To this end, we need to
affirm the common commitment to promoting institutions and methods of joint
action and cooperation between peoples and nations, and especially to fostering
education for peace, at a level well above the necessary and hoped for
structural reforms.

In this context, my delegation
would like to renew its support for the ongoing International Decade for a
Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001-2010. We
all have a great responsibility for the formation of future generations. That is
why the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue will convene a meeting
in Assisi tomorrow for young people from different countries and cultural and
religious backgrounds, engaging them in a personal commitment to dialogue,
prayer and education on tolerance and peace.

The lack of
the basic truth of peace at the cultural level has undoubtedly produced
devastating effects down through the years and there are still cultures and
mentalities that even today deny it exists. The most dramatic example is
international terrorism. The criminal designs of international terrorism rest on
false cultural roots which deny the existence of a link between truth and human
life. Such roots are identifiable in nihilism and in fanatical fundamentalism,
which are erroneous ways of relating to truth. “The nihilist denies the very
existence of truth, while the fundamentalist claims to be able to impose it by
force. Despite their different origins and cultural backgrounds, both show a
dangerous contempt for human beings and human life, and ultimately for God
himself” (n.10).

The causes of
the lack of peace in our world cannot be reduced to those of an exclusively
social or political nature. Terrorism, wars, genocides and national and
international injustices which discriminate, oppress and abandon to hunger and
helplessness entire populations, hinder or threaten the right to existence of
nations, can also be explained by deeper motivations of a cultural, ideological,
philosophical and even religious nature. Social behaviour and political choices
usually follow. At this level, it is essential to formulate both national and
international peace policies, which will embrace the truth of peace and shun
lies as a system for relations or governance.

With the 2005
Summit Outcome document, this Organization adopted the principle of the
responsibility to protect as a practical translation of the exercise of
sovereignty and of governance. The responsibility to protect presupposes the
capacity and the will to remove threats, to establish relations and mechanisms
apt to continue to dissuade humanity from resolving their disputes through the
use of force and, to the extent possible, to
substitute force with law.

The
responsibility to protect is intimately linked and directly proportional to the
respect for the truth of peace, whether it is a question of deciding to use
force in extreme cases, the conduct during and after conflict, military
expenditure, the arms trade, disarmament and nuclear proliferation, demographics
or the approach to development.

To realize
peace at the social and political level, the correct relation between truth and
peace at the cultural level needs to be re-established.

Thank you,
Madam President.

[1]
In
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20051213_xxxix-world-day-peace_en.html